Cat and Mouse
by AmorEstrellas
Summary: Brooke left home mysteriously two years ago. She was never heard from after that. Now, she finally came back to a less than friendly welcome home. Can she fix what was broken?
1. Prologue

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own the Covenant nor any of the characters that are property of it. I only own my character Brooke Lennon.**

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**A/N: Yay! New Covenant fanfiction! My other one was going so well and I was having _tons _of fun writing it. So, why not make another? I kinda went crazy with this... I let the characters free and how am I supposed to reign them in? I'm just a lowly author. So... enjoy the character take over.**

PROLOGUE

"_This song reminds me of you." His voice was so close. I felt his breath on my shoulder. We had snuck out in the dead of night to sit on the pier, close to my house, with a radio. Cat and Mouse by The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus was playing softly. I turned my head and kissed his hair, he had buried his face in my shoulder. We sat that way for awhile, me sitting on his lap, his arms wrapped around me. _

_We never told a soul about us. Sixteen and in love. Sixteen and wanting to get married. Sixteen and planning to elope. _

_People would frown if they knew. Our friends... oh, our friends. Kate, Pogue, Caleb, and Tyler. Kate would be ecstatic. She had always wanted us to end up together. I honestly believed it was just so she could force us to double with her and Pogue. I grimaced in the moonlight. Not happening. Pogue, my older brother figure and trouble making friend would smile and wave as we drove off. He was so laid back. Caleb would disapprove. He'd tell us we were throwing away our promising futures. Secretly, he'd congratulate us, though. He was my responsible older brother (figure, of course). And then there's Tyler. My confident. My shoulder to cry on. My security blanket. Talking to Tyler was like turning on the light when you've been left crying in a dark room. He was warm, sweet, and my best friend. He would hug us and tell me good luck. He loved to see me smile..._

_Reid sighed behind me. "Reading my mind again?" I played with his hair. He nodded and smiled apologetically. He got worried when I was silent for long periods of time. So he used his powers (yes I knew about them), and listened to my thoughts._

"_Forgive me?" He made a puppy dog face and I laughed._

"_Nothing to forgive, Baby." He kissed me. "I love you. More than anything."_

"_I love you twice as much." He gave me his famous smirk and I rolled my eyes._

"_You are SO competitive!" I threw my hands up and they came down with a loud -thwack- on my lap. He just laughed silently. I closed my eyes as his body shook underneath me. I loved his laugh. That was my favorite quality of his. His arms loosened. I tensed. What's going on?_

"_Wanna go for a swim?" He tugged at bottom of my shirt and slowly slid it past my belly button. I pulled it over my head with ease and stood up. We undressed- it's not like he's never seen me naked before- and he pushed me in the water. It was lukewarm._

"_Reid!! What the hell!?" I nearly shouted as my head resurfaced. His smile gleamed and he jumped in beside me. I loved moments like this. If I could, I'd spend every minute of every day, just like this._

_But all good things come to an end sometime..._


	2. Hiding

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Covenant nor do I own any characters you may recognize from it. I only own Brooke Lennon.**

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**A/N: Alright chapter one is out for your viewing. Enjoy! It's all in Brooke's POV. Next chapter should be mainly Reid's POV. Again, with this story I just sorta let them run free... enjoy!**

HIDING

_Brooke_

I kept repeating to myself how bad of an idea this was. Coming home to Ipswich after two years was going to end tragically, like a Shakespeare novel. I had thrown my GPS into the back seat since I already knew every road and building here. It was still was pretty much the same. Too much the same. I sighed and turned onto the long street that led to our old house. We had just moved back into it two days ago. No one knew. Mom had been trying to keep it under wraps for as long as she could, because she felt that was the "safest" way to go about this. My life was always going to be filled with secrets, wasn't it?

Oh, yeah. The name's Brooke. Brooke Lennon. Yes, like John Lennon. No relation. 5"5 with honey colored hair, hazel eyes, light skin. I used to be this loud party girl. I never could stay still. Now I was fairly quiet and reserved. I didn't talk back, if I talked at all. And I was scared of everything. Not that it was my fault. After all that had happened in the past two years, this behavior was expected.

Lemme rewind for yah. Towards the end of my Sophomore year of high school I had everything going for me. Impeccable grades, outstanding friends, and unmatchable confidence. So, I decided to take my perfect life one step further, being the over achiever that I was. I got myself a job at Nicky's. He was an old friend of the family, and had always been like an uncle to me. So I started working there and everything was amazing. Until about three weeks in, that is. This man -I'll never forget his face- was tall with curly dark brown hair, deep set chocolate eyes (never as warm as Caleb's), and a lean build. He was good looking, I'd give him that. His name was Max Porter, an electronic genius. And boy was he a flirt. I had to tell him numerous times that I was already seeing someone and that he was just too old to date. I mean, really! There was a good ten or fifteen year difference between us. Gross. One night he wouldn't take no for an answer. Drunk off his ass, he tried to make me leave with him, telling me that he could make me happy and that he was in love with me. I shouted for Nicky, who chased him out with a baseball bat and banned him from the bar. Nicky told me I should probably stop working there, because he was worried for my well being. I couldn't have agreed more.

Things got worse. I started seeing Max everywhere. He showed up on benches outside of stores I went into. He would call my phone, God only knows how he got my number, at least ten times a night. Leaving me tons of voicemails about how he had seen me with the "blond boy" again, and that I was cheating on him and he was going to get rid of that guy, who was actually just Reid. And if he had been seeing our secret dates then that meant he was _really _following me. I told my mother all about it. She was terrified for me, so she and my father immediately had a restraining order thrown on Max. She told me that I couldn't tell a soul about it, because it would cause so many problems and gossip that she didn't have time to deal with.

Two weeks after star gazing with Reid on the pier, I got a text message while reading a book in my room. 'Look out the window.' Body trembling, I did so. Max was sitting in the tree about fifteen feet from my second floor bedroom. Screaming, I ran down the hall and dragged my father in. He opened the window and caught a glimpse of Max's shadow running across our lawn.

That was the night the decision was made. My parents concluded that we were going to move out of Massachusetts. They were going to just leave the house for the county to deal with and we would move in two weeks. Mom promised that the day before we left I would get a chance to say goodbye to my friends. Little did she know, I was going to tell them everything. But fate had other things in store.

I had told Reid to get our friends together by Thursday. That was when I was going to tell them. Wednesday night rolled around and my plans were cut short. I walked into my room that night and without looking at my surroundings, I went straight to the bathroom. After brushing my teeth I came out to meet a stranger lurking by my bed. Max. I screamed as loud as I could before he held up a picture of Reid, Tyler, and myself. He told me that he was going to kill them. I screamed again and my younger brother Mason, then 14, busted through the door. Max fled through my window, while Mason and I called the police. Mom and Dad insisted on leaving that night. 'We can't waste time.' They had said. So we packed up the rest of our stuff and I was left feeling guilty.

I would never get the chance to meet up with my friends. I wondered if they were going to go searching for me. If one of them got hurt tomorrow night, it would be my fault. Those were the only things I could think of as the once familiar town was left behind us.

We moved around for a good two years. Max had hacked our phones multiple times, and had tracked me down using them. So we kept running from him. I wasn't allowed to call or email anyone, because he could find us. I did call Kate on the road when I first left. I told her what was happening and I made her promise not to tell anyone. For some reason, I suddenly didn't want the guys to know. I didn't want their pity. It was a weird feeling. Kate cried on the phone and promised to keep my secret as long as we kept in touch.

And we did to an extent. I called her every three or four months, secretly. Until I moved to Boston, where I met an amazing girl named Sarah Wenham. We lived next door to each other and she was just as good of a friend as Kate. Sarah learned my secret and let me use her house to hide out in some nights. She was such a good person. When I found out we were moving again, I told her to apply for a scholarship at Spencer. I hoped she would meet Caleb, she was definitely his type. She took my advice. I left before I could find out the results, though.

Max was caught by police about two months ago. Mom was so relieved and moved us back to Ipswich without a second thought. She missed home. We all did.

I missed my friends more than anything. They probably didn't miss me. The guys were going to be furious that I was back. Kate was going to practically bounce off the walls.

I finally pulled up to the street in front of my house, since moving vans occupied the driveway. Stepping out of the car I leaned on its frame and rested my chin on the hood. This place held so many memories. Mostly good. The ones concerning Max, not so good. That gave me shivers and the chilly November air didn't help. I lifted myself off Blitzen and headed for the trunk. So what if I named my car?! It was my baby. Dark blue Ford Mustang GT with white racing stripes from the hood, over the top, and down the trunk. My perfect car. I had been dreaming for this thing since I had my permit to drive. I carefully opened the back and pulled out three bags of groceries. Damn they were heavy! I kept the trunk open as I walked up the front lawn and through the front door, politely excusing myself for getting in the movers' way. After laying the bags out on the kitchen counter, I headed into the front room where I saw Max chatting up some girl on the phone.

"Hahaha. Yeah. Alright......... Nah that's not my thing.....You're gonna what?...... Need some help? 'Cuz I could totally-" I shoved his shoulder in a very bossy, big sister manner. He towered over me. For a sixteen year old he was sure mature looking. It reminded me of how the guys suddenly sprung up after they turned thirteen. Mason was just like them. My throat closed up. He looked over at me and rolled his eyes. "Hey, Babe. I gotta go. Text you." And without waiting for her reply he snapped his phone shut. "Alright big- or should I say _little_ sis. What's going on?"

"Groceries. Help me or die." He smirked at the thought of me taking him on. I would lose easily.

"Lead the way." He followed me outside to the trunk and helped me unload the rest. Honestly, I didn't see why he and I had to do this. It's not like we were going to be living here anyway.

If you guessed that we were going to Spencer, which happened to be the same school as all my old friends, give yourself a round of applause. If not, then check your brain cells because I think some are missing. The school was so prestigious. I loved having the option and benefit of attending. I just wasn't too fond of the student body.

Plastic and fake. Like Hollywood. Fake boobs, fake noses, fake hair. Girls stuffed or wore really padded bras. All of them judged each other. They always brought out the claws, even to their supposed "best friends".

Then there were the guys. Horny sons of bitches with only one thought. Fuck every girl within a ten mile radius. They stared at you like you were a piece of meat. Disgusting and degrading.

I guess you could compare Spencer to a jungle more than an actual school. All the people were animals.

"I'll take the last of these up. Just close the trunk." Mason ordered, breaking me out of my reverie. I closed the trunk as he walked back to the house with two bags in each hand.

Just then a small silver mustang came pulling up to the house. My heart skipped three beats. No. No. No. Oh, Dear Jesus! If there is any justice left in the world please let that not be who I think it is. I'm not ready to do this! I stared at the car with a blank face, keeping my internal screaming to a minimum.

"Well. What do we have here?" An all too familiar female voice rang from the car. I exhaled in relief. Had I really been holding my breath? Wow, I must be nervous. When I heard her voice, I felt like the old me. Not this new, frightened Brooke. I was confident again.

"KATIE!" I screamed and ran to the car as she stepped out of the passenger side, followed by a blonde head in the driver's seat. She jumped onto me and we both fell onto the grass cracking up. I looked up at another familiar face. "Oh my God! SARAH?!" She really had made it into Spencer! I grabbed her and pulled her into a hug on the grass. We all stood up and brushed ourselves off, smiling and making jokes. "What are you guys doing here? I didn't call- How did you know?"

Kate smiled her perfect smile. "We saw moving vans leaving so we got curious as to who was moving into your old house." She smacked my arm with a playful scowl on her face. "Broooooooke! Why didn't you tell me you were coming back?"

"I honestly didn't know that I was. But they caught Max. They _caught _him! I can actually sleep at night now." I chuckled. Sarah locked her arm through mine and smiled at me.

"Well we have a lot of catching up to do, Ms. Lennon." Kate nodded in agreement.

"We should do something." I suggested. "Mason and I have to move our shit into the dorms. By tomorrow. Wanna help?"

"Sure. Anything for the bravest girl I have ever met!" Sarah grinned. I rolled my eyes, a half smile on my face. I was not that brave. I called Mason and told him to get his scrawny ass outside and into my car. I already had all our stuff in the back, and we could always buy more tomorrow.

He met us outside, and after much appraising from both Kate and Sarah, we got in our cars and raced to Spencer.

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"Man, your brother is hot now." Kate giggled as I laid out on my chosen side of the room. In the past two hours of talking, I had learned that Sarah transferred in this year and was now dating Caleb like I planned, the boys had a run in with the 5th family back in August, and Kate and Sarah were roommates. So much had changed.

"Ew. Kate. He's a Sophomore." I groaned. She only shrugged. "So... is there anything else that's different that I need to know about?" They both knew I wasn't talking about gossip. Best friends were good like that, yah know?

"Reid's..." Sarah started and looked at Kate with pleading eyes. Oh. This should be great. I say that with sarcasm on every note. Kate shook her head and pretended to look out the window. I raised my eye brows for her to go on. "Reid's sort of the new playboy of Spencer."

That was it. I had lost him. I had always known that I didn't deserve him, I didn't deserve anytime we had spent together. It made no sense for him to stick with me like he had. Girls were always chasing after him. They always would. And now that he didn't have to worry about me stopping him, he could finally slow down and let them catch him. "Oh." Oh? Was that really all I could manage? I already knew this was going to be tough. I definitely hadn't expected him to wait for me. But he was sleeping with _tons _of girls. Maybe it would be different if he was with just one. I mean, just knowing that dozens of girls had been held by my Reid, just like he used to hold me. "_Stop right there,"_ I reprimanded myself. "_He's not your Reid anymore. And he can live his own life." _

"Oh, I'm sorry, Sweetie." Kate walked over and wrapped an arm around me. I wiped the tear off with my sleeve and sighed.

"I should've known. Well... He can do what he wants. He's a grown person." Sarah took my hand and she and Kate started telling me jokes about Aaron Abbott and Kira Snider. I laughed and perked up immediately.

Kate's phone buzzed twice and she tried to control her laughter as she answered. "Ahahaha! H-Hello? Hah. Hello?" I snickered as she breathed deeply. "Sorry. Sarah told a funny joke... Nicky's? Um. Okay. I'll ask Sarah. And would you mind if we brought a friend?" I glared at her. No way. I was not going to deal with this now. I just got home! "Cool. Love you. No, I love you. Haha. Fine. Bye." Sarah made a gagging noise at the whole I love you fest. I smiled inwardly, but I was too mad to actually show happiness.

"Kate are you insane?!" I grabbed her shoulders. She smiled pleasantly.

"Nope. Oh, honestly. What's the worst that could happen?"

"Umm. They could see me and then murder me. Probably through some painful torture method..." I trailed off. Kate rolled her eyes and I heard Sarah's impatient sigh. "I'm serious! They all hate me. I know they do. They're very good with grudges."

"We'll make them _not _hate you. Kate and I will take care of Pogue and Caleb. Then they can take care of Reid and Tyler. Done and done." Sarah nodded wisely. I put my head in my hands. I was going to regret this for the rest of my life. Oh what the hell. What's a few sleepless nights and another heartbreak? I'd deal, I guess.

"Fine. But if I chicken out, you have to let me."

"You can't hide forever." Sarah whispered. I hate it when she's right.

"Just until I graduate." Now it was Kate's turn to groan.

"You're going. We're gonna make this work. I promise." Kate rubbed by arm. I looked up, and somehow, I believed them.


	3. Judgement Day

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Covenant nor do I own any characters you may recognize from it. I only own Brooke Lennon, Mason Lennon, Riley Lennon (Brooke's sister), and their parents.**

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**A/N: Okay, so I know it's been forever since I updated. I've been busy. I did make a new chapter of "S.S." for those waiting. And without further adieu, here it is.**

JUDGEMENT DAY

_Reid_

Hanging out at the Danver's mansion was only fun on two occasions. If we were watching a show on MTV involving girls in bikinis, or if we were playing video games. Today was the second one. I was almost done kicking Tyler's ass in Halo 5 when Pogue sighed.

"We should go to Nicky's today." Caleb, leaning on the arm of the couch across from him, shrugged. "What? You have a better idea? If we don't go there now, then we'll spend the rest of the night watching those two."

"But, you like video games." Caleb eyed him with curiosity. I could only watch half the conversation as I finally beat Tyler and threw the controller down.

"You just got owned, Baby Boy." I grinned over at my best friend since birth. He rolled his eyes, laughing, and we turned around to the two older guys behind us. "No, Man. Pogue's right. We should head down to Nicky's, I need to kick Aaron's ass in pool tonight. I'm feeling a little short on change." I patted my jean pockets. Playing pool was great when you played against a moron like Abbott. And after you beat him, you could always show off your pool skills to a hot girl or two. I usually tried to get Tyler in on it, but he never went along with my plans. He told me that he'd get girls the old fashioned way and that picking 'em up in bars was strictly _my _game. I guess I could agree.

"Why do you suddenly wanna go now?" Tyler raised his eyebrows at the biker. When Pogue didn't answer, Baby Boy smiled slyly. "You haven't seen Kate all day and it's killing you. Am I right?"

Pogue smirked. "Yeah." He looked over at Caleb, our unspoken leader, our Golden Boy. He liked rules too much, thank god Sarah helped him live a little. "Besides, then Caleb can get to see Sarah and Reid can get to see whatever skirt he decides to chase tonight." Caleb smiled at the thought of his girlfriend. I was smiling at the thought of getting some tonight. At least it would get my mind off of... I mentally cursed myself for thinking about that now. No. This was my night. I wasn't going to ruin it by thinking of her.

"Who's gonna call Kate and Sarah?" Caleb looked at Pogue.

"Sure." He pulled out his phone. It rang twice before a female voice came on the line, laughing hysterically. Pogue put the phone on speaker and set it down on the table.

"_Ahahaha! H-Hello? Hah. Hello?" _Kate's voice giggled into the phone. Pogue smiled.

"What's up, Baby? You sound... high." I heard snickering from the background. It wasn't Sarah's voice. It sounded vaguely familiar in a way. I liked it.

"_Sorry. Sarah told a funny joke."_

"Oh. It's cool. So, you two up for Nicky's?"

"_Nicky's? Um. Okay. I'll ask Sarah. Would you mind if we brought a friend?" _The quiet laughing abruptly stopped. Yikes. The chick didn't sound too happy anymore.

"Yeah, sure. Bring whoever you want." I saw him flinch at what he just said. Kate could bring anyone, as long as it wasn't another guy. I hoped she realized that and instead brought the chick with the hot laugh.

"_Cool. Love you." _And here it comes...

"Love you more."

"_No I love you!"_

"We can always settle this at Nicky's..." They were really annoying sometimes.

"_Haha. Fine. Bye." _She hung up, causing Caleb, Tyler, and myself to sigh in relief. We could only deal with so much romance in one day. Pogue scowled at us and Tyler playfully punched his arm.

"We should get there soon or else we won't get a parking spot." Caleb said. Always planning ahead, that one. I nodded and we all got up, following Caleb out of the enormous family room.

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As usual, Nicky's was packed with people. We made our way through the crowded parking lot and passed Sarah's car. Caleb stared at it, concerned.

The girls never got here before us. Something wasn't right. I prodded Tyler with my elbow and we jogged inside, ahead of the other two. Splitting up, I took the left side of the room and Tyler took the right. I headed over to the tables and spotted them in a corner, laughing at some girl who was cracking jokes. For a second, I thought I knew her. Her behavior, the way she leaned over the table, her hair color. It may have been dim in the bar, but I could still see that it was the color of molten honey. Something about her was like a dream, thought up a long time ago. The kinda dream that you hate to have end, and you never really forget it.

Tyler interrupted my deja vu as he shoved me. "Dude! I've been calling your name for the past five minutes. What's up? Did you find them?" I pointed to the table farthest away as Sarah looked up in our direction. Her smile faltered a bit and she whispered something to the girl, who straightened in her seat. Kate had a pleading look on her face as the mystery girl shifted uncomfortably.

I didn't get to see anymore because Caleb and Pogue brushed past us, towards them. I walked between them and noticed that Sarah and the girl were both gone. Tonight was just getting weirder and weirder.

Kate was staring at the back door as Pogue bent down and kissed her cheek. "Hey."

"Hello." Her mind was elsewhere, with Sarah and the girl with no name. Pogue grabbed Kate's hand and started leading her to the back door. "Where are we going?!" She spared a wide eyed glance at us. I shrugged. Pogue was up to something.

"We're going to meet your friend and find out what's up with her and Sarah." He said simply. Caleb was frowning as we opened the back door and filed out into the alley way we had fought in months ago.

"You don't have to meet her, you already know her." Kate whispered. We know her? How? I remembered my moment of deja vu minutes ago. It still didn't explain anything.

We headed down the short steps and stopped as Sarah walked out from behind the alley. The same alley Caleb had thrown me into when I lost my temper on him back in August. That had hurt like a bitch all night. I tried not to think about it as Sarah pulled on the slender hand of someone hidden in the shadows.

"Just get it over with. I promise they'll behave themselves." Sarah had to tug with both hands, the girl was so strong. Finally, with a groan she spoke and it felt like time had stopped.

"They're going to murder me." And now we had a face to match that ageless voice. "Look at their faces. I told you they'd be mad." Those wide hazel eyes stared at the ground sadly. She bit her lip and blinked up at us.

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_Brooke _

To say that their faces were angry would have been the biggest understatement of the year. They loathed me. Caleb was disappointed and even he had traces of anger underlying his handsome features. Pogue was just furious. Wild, incomprehensible fury. Tyler looked sad and then when he saw his brothers being mad, he tried to mirror their faces. His was what made me want to cry. He looked hurt and upset. And then there was Reid. No doubt he had told everyone that we had been secretly dating. That was all I could think of to explain why they looked like this... like I had killed their dog or something. I had broken Reid's heart and they wanted to rip me apart for it. Reid's face shocked me the most. It was cold and distant; he glared at me as I walked by.

Sarah and Kate wouldn't be able to help me now. I took a deep breath. Before I could begin Pogue shot at me,

"Why the hell are you here?" I sighed. So this was how it was going to be.

"I was relocated here by my parents. I had no choice in the matter. The same thing with how I left. I had no say in it." I needed to get it across to them that this was not my fault. I couldn't have just told my parents that I wanted to risk my life and my friends' by staying in Ipswich.

"That's bullshit." Reid hissed. I didn't look at him. How could I? Not when he was staring at me like that, if I did I was sure to cry. That at least, might make them soften up a bit. They knew I never cried. I had always been the sunny, smiling girl with no problems. Now I was just the shell. The frightened, emotional wreck of a shell.

"No it's not." I sniffed at the ground.

"How long are you staying this time?" Tyler's voice broke at the end. He was having just as hard of a time as I was.

"Forever, Ty. I'm back for good." It was hard to see him like this. He just shook his head and turned away.

"It's Tyler." He managed through clenched teeth. "Only my _friends _are allowed to call me Ty."

"Oh my god." I could feel the tears forming. "I can't believe you just said that to me."

"What did you want him to say? Welcome back? Thanks for taking off on us and not calling, not emailing? For ignoring us for two years?" Caleb's eyes were daggers at me now. It was actually very frightening.

"I tried to call! I tried to call all of you. None of you answered me! So I just stopped calling. I figured it was over, so why push it?" I sucked in a shaky breath. I was about to lose it, any second now. Sarah walked away from Kate and took my hand, glaring at Caleb.

"You should've kept at it then!" Pogue spat with a growl.

"AND DONE _WHAT_ POGUE?!" I screamed suddenly. The guys winced, I wasn't one to get angry or to act like this. I was probably scaring them just as much as they were scaring me. "Keep calling until you decide you're not mad anymore?! I can't do that!"

"Hey. Relax." Sarah squeezed my hand and started pulling me away from the guys. She and Kate were glaring at Pogue and Caleb as they led me past Reid. Our eyes met.

"I have nothing to say to you." He stated with a tone so cold I almost shivered. Now the tears came freely as I pushed myself out of my best friends' grips and sprinted to the car. I had jacked Sarah's keys as well, so I unlocked it and crawled into the back seat and just cried.

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_Tyler _

When I saw the light glisten on Brooke's cheeks I felt almost instantaneous remorse. We had really fucked up this time.

Sarah and Kate could have warned us. How did they expect us to deal with the sudden appearance of our missing link? Our happy, carefree member? She wasn't so happy anymore. She was _crying_. I couldn't believe it, neither could the guys. We exchanged worried glances before Kate came storming up to Pogue and called him every name under the sun. She told him that she had forgiven Brooke the moment she saw her and that he should too.

"She's different now, Pogue! She's hurt and you guys who were supposed to be her 'best friends' didn't even take the time to see that!"

"She shouldn't have left then!!" Pogue's voice rising on ever word.

"She didn't have a choice! How many times can we say that?!" Sarah was yelling now, and Caleb's face was ashamed. He was probably feeling about as much guilt as me. We knew it wasn't her fault and we had still kept pushing her, we pushed her until she broke down crying right in front of us. If she ever cried, she only would do it in front of me, and even then it was rare for it to happen. Sarah turned to Caleb. "When you decide to stop being an ass, call me." She turned on her heel and stalked off to the parking lot. Kate slapped Pogue as he began to say something incredibly rude about Brooke, and followed Sarah. Tonight had taken a definite turn for the worst.


	4. One By One

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Covenant nor any characters from it. I just own Brooke and her siblings and Pogue's sibling.**

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**A/N: Hooray! A new chapter! Thanks so much to everyone for reviews, alerts, and the like. Enjoy!**

ONE BY ONE

_Reid_

There were no words for how pissed off I was when Caleb and Pogue practically dragged Tyler and myself back to the dorms. So what if their girlfriends were mad at _them_. It didn't give those two a reason to drag us down too.

And I was not planning to apologize. I didn't do anything wrong! When she comes back unannounced, after two fucking years she should expect some hostility. She was lucky we went so easy on her. I had half a mind to throw her into something the second she showed herself.

But damn, she looked good. The time away had been very kind to her features. She was taller now, the top of her head was barely the same level as my chin. She had always had a kickass body, but it filled out more since the last time I saw her. Her hair was longer too. She didn't smile when she saw us, but I knew that if she did I would've melted on the spot. All in all I was happy she didn't, it was easier to stay angry this way.

"When we get there, behave yourselves." Caleb warned us, but mainly me. Pogue had simmered down after Kate slapped the shit out of him. Baby Boy already felt bad about the whole thing, she used to be his best friend. I was the only one still holding a grudge against her. It would be so easy to just accept whatever excuse she had for leaving. I'd probably feel loads better if I did that. But I didn't want to believe, because I knew I was never good enough for her; I didn't deserve her. I wanted to believe that she left because of me. It was a stupid and selfish thought, but it was the only thing I could wrap my head around. We stopped outside her dorm room- we got the number from her brother Mason- and paused. There was a lot of giggling and it sounded like some girl was telling a story. Caleb hesitated and then knocked three times.

The door pulled back and Kate was on the other side. Her eyes narrowed when she took in the visitors. "Sarah, check this out." She was accompanied by the petite blonde, but Sarah seemed more shocked than angry. She nodded to Kate and they let us into the warm room. My eyes scanned the room quickly but I found the person of interest to be missing. The only people in the room were Sarah, Kate, Riley Lennon (Brooke's college age sister), and Quinn Parry (Pogue's sister). Quinn and Riley were definitely the most surprising guests.

"Quinn?" Pogue seemed startled at his twin's presence. She shot him a glare before resuming her story with the rest of the group. Man, he was in deep shit. "Very mature. Sure, just ignore me. Whatever, where's Brooke?" Riley looked up now, her dyed black and red hair swaying at the sudden movement. Her blueish green eyes passing over each of our faces before she stood up.

"We should let them talk to her. Let's go to Kate's room. Sound good?" The other girls just nodded, Sarah mouthed a thank you to Caleb before following the long line out. Riley was the last to the door, and she stopped to face us. "She went to give something to Mason on the 5th floor. She'll be back soon. When you're done talking, tell her where to find me. I'm only home for this weekend and I don't want to lose any valuable quality time with her." We just stared. "Oh, and another thing, you already hurt her once, try not to fuck it up again. She is my baby sister and I will castrate any one of you who makes her act like that again. She was crying so bad when I saw her..." Riley shook her head sadly and then gave us a small wave as she left, but she looked like she wanted to cry a little herself.

We had been alone in her room for maybe five minutes when I heard talking outside the door. I knew that voice, and even when I was pissed, it still made my heart skip a beat or two. By this point I was leaning on the far wall, Pogue was sitting in a chair at the desk, and Caleb and Tyler were sitting on the beds. The tension in the room rose as the talking grew louder and the faint sound of a key in the door was heard. It opened and Brooke was staring at the floor with a phone pressed to her ear. Not once did she glance up at us, she simply turned and closed the door.

She pressed her forehead against it, completely unaware that four teenage boys were lingering just behind her. "Yeah.... I know. -sigh- I'll be fine. Stop. Mom, stop worrying." She raised her head as the frantic voice on the other line raised a few octaves. "For Christ sakes, who the hell cares?! Get over your fucking paranoia! Whatever, I don't even care anymore!...... NO! Good Night." She slammed the phone shut and threw it behind herself. "I'm so grounded." She muttered as Tyler walked up behind her and touched her arm.

*************************************************************************************************************

_Brooke_

The hallways of Spencer were always very dark and eerie at night. It reminded me of something out of a horror movie. I headed back to my room on the third floor after dropping off Mason's shirt at his dorm. How it ended up in my luggage I'll never know. I tried to focus on the insignificant screw up to keep my mind off of what happened earlier that evening. I hadn't cried like that since I was 5.

I knew that eventually I would have to explain everything to them, but making the guys stop and listen would be the hard part. They were very stubborn sometimes and it would take a great deal of persuasion. I just hoped that Kate and Sarah would make good on their word and get Caleb and Pogue to drag ass and come apologize.

Tonight hadn't turned out for the worst, though. Riley came home for the weekend unexpectedly and it was the perfect surprise in a moment like this. My older sister was always one of my best friends and the go- to person when you were having problems. And Quinn, Pogue's sister, always had my back too. It was nice to know that when you're at your worst and weakest moment, your best friends can always be counted on to be there.

My phone rang and caused me to jump and clutch my heart. God, these hallways were silent. I answered on the third ring to my frantic and overprotective mother.

"Yes, Mom?"

"_How are you? Where've you been? I've been trying to reach you for the past thirty minutes!" _I remembered that I shut my phone off when I got back to the dorms. I just wasn't in the mood to take calls and texts. I turned it back on when I reached the fourth floor on my way down, just to check my messages. 15 missed calls from Mom. I didn't bother to return them.

"Oh. Something came up and I was... busy."

"_You should know better than that young lady! I was so worried! What if something happened to you when you were 'busy'?! What would you have done?!" _I opened the door to my room and walked in, the girls must've left and kept the light on for me. That was nice. I turned and closed the door, leaning my head against it. She was giving me a headache.

"Yeah." I replied, not paying attention. That clearly wasn't the answer she wanted, though.

"_Are you listening to me Brooke?! You should be more conscious of the danger you put yourself in!" _

"I know." I sighed. "I'll be fine." She tried to protest and I shut her down. "Stop. Mom, stop worrying." Her voice suddenly shot up and became very angry at my tone or something, I really didn't give a shit. She was making my head hurt more.

"_Brooke Elizabeth Lennon! Do NOT use that tone of voice with me! I am your MOTHER! I am warning you about the risks you are taking! I am protecting you."_

"For Christ sakes, who the hell cares?!" Talking back. Strike one. "Get over your fucking paranoia!" Using the F bomb. Strike two. She began to speak. "Whatever, I don't even care anymore!" Having the last word in an argument. Strike three.

"_Come home right now, you are GROUNDED. Get in your car, Brooke! You're coming back, because obviously you aren't mature enough to handle going back to school here!!" _Her shrill voice reminded me of nails on a chalkboard. But, being in the mood I was, I pressed my luck further.

"NO!" Her stunned silence followed as I promptly said, "Good Night.", slamming my phone shut. Hanging up on your mother was always a bad idea. I carelessly tossed the device over my shoulder. "I'm so grounded." I muttered to no one.

Or at least I thought.

I was about to walk to my desk when a very strong hand turned me around, followed by a deep voice asking, "Are you okay?" But the question was muffled by my startled scream. I panted and stood against the door for support.

"Tyler!?" I managed. He just nodded and continued staring at me like he was afraid I was going to fall over or something. Ha! When I regained control of my breathing I realized that all four of them were waiting for me. Thank you Sarah and Kate.

"Since when did you start cursing?" Pogue asked twirling an object in his large hands, breaking the silence, in a very big brother manner. I rolled my eyes.

"Since my life went to hell. And stop touching that. If Ashley thinks I messed with her stuff I'll never hear the end of it." I swiped a picture from Pogue and set it back down on my new roommate's desk. Ashley Sanders was one of Kira Snider's friends and one of the biggest sluts and bitches at Spencer. We were never friends, but she could be level headed occasionally. The guys knew who I was talking about too since she was the only Ashley at the school to go by her entire first name. The cringed. "So... why are you here?" I tried to sound casual, but my eyes kept darting to the floor. Even if you couldn't see the evidence that I had been crying, it was still embarrassing having them know that I had.

"We came to apologize, Lizzie." Caleb knew he was the only person allowed to call me that, and he knew that it made me soften up whenever he said it. "We shouldn't have said what was said. It was... out of line."

"Oh. Um..." I put my hand on the back of my neck, a habit I picked up from Reid so long ago. "It's okay I guess." Tyler got a little angry at that.

"No, it's _not _okay. Why are you saying that?! Usually you would be pissed and storming around, and if you weren't doing that you'd be making fun of us! So clearly something's wrong!" He had my shoulders in his hands and he had bent his head down a little to get a good look at my face.

"A lot's changed, especially me." He frowned and I tried to look down but he tilted my chin back up. I looked him dead in the eye as I spoke. "You can't fix this, Ty. None of you can." I took his hands and put them down at his sides, then I let my eyes wander over all of their faces. Reid wasn't so distant anymore, nor was he cold. It was like he wanted to come over and knock some sense in me, and hug me at the same time. I cracked a smile at his internal struggle causing his face to go blank. I always knew Reid had a weak spot for my laugh so I let myself chuckle a bit at his expression. The atmosphere eased and the guys stared at me with bewildered faced.

"What?!" Reid took a defensive stance at my amused gaze.

"Your face. It was funny." I shook my head, the smile nothing but a ghost now. "Anyway, apologies accepted. Though, I think it'd be a good idea for you to hear why I left before you leave. I don't want you thinking that I left for no reason." I walked to my bed and sat down as Tyler sat down beside me. Man, he and Caleb had these guilty faces. "Hey. You two need to stop feeling so guilty. No harm, no foul." Caleb managed a small smile and Tyler squeezed my hand. I missed this. It would make the situation even more familiar if Reid was flirting with me and Pogue was making fun of us.

"Okay. I don't know where to begin, so I'm gonna try to make this as minimally confusing as possible. Granted, it's not easy for me to talk about, either. So bare with me." I started from the beginning, with the job and then the restraining order. Then the story got more advanced, even delving into some private stuff between myself and Reid. Like how Max had seen us when we snuck out and secretly met up. The guys would sometimes look over at Reid for confirmation, but he was too busy staring at me. I got to the part where I asked Reid to get them all together so I could tell them all what was happening. Caleb nodded in affirmation. He remembered this much.

"I wanted to tell you what was going on, even though my parents made me swear not to tell anyone. I thought you guys deserved to know. You deserved to say goodbye..." I took a deep breath. "But, as you noticed, I never showed up that night." Tyler's hand tightened and Pogue's eyes narrowed. This was what they were waiting for. "I came home from the pier with Reid the night before I was going to tell you, but I told my parents I had been at the store getting some super glue or something. I came home and I went upstairs to get ready for bed since I knew Mom and Dad had been out late talking with lawyers and the police and were coming back soon. Mason was home, Riley was out having one last party with her friends. I probably should've told Reid that night about what was happening, but I wanted everyone to be together when I did. So I kept my mouth shut." I trembled slightly, the next part was one of my most terrifying memories. "I went into my bathroom that night and when I came out, _he was in my room_. The only things I remember are screaming and him saying he was going to kill you because if he couldn't have me then no one could. Mason came in and then Max fled out the window, he got in because he broke the lock on it." My hands were visibly shaking now, Caleb had lost all the color in his face and Pogue had the look of a martyr. He clearly wanted to shoot himself for what he said earlier. Tyler gripped me protectively, though I knew he was trying to stop the tremors in my body because they scared him. Reid was fighting to use. I knew his emotions so well; he was fighting to use to bring the guy here right now and kill him with his gloved hands. Gloves I had made for him. They used to be a regular pair of gloves from my closet but I accidentally ripped a finger off one and then Reid and I spent the next hour ripping off all the others and making the famous gloves. I decided I didn't want them anymore so I gave them to him. It was cute to see he still wore them after all this time. "So, my parents decided we should.. go. We moved around for about two years, from all the way down to Virginia and back to Boston. He kept finding us via the phone. Which is why I couldn't call. If I did call, I talked to Kate, but only for a few minutes at a time so he couldn't track us. We also didn't use email because he's some computer wiz and there was the risk of him finding us through that. It was hell until about two months ago when the police finally caught him. Mom concluded that we were safe to move back and here I am." I sighed taking Tyler's hand absentmindedly, flipping it over a few times before measuring the size of his and the size of mine. His was a lot bigger.

"Damn." Pogue shook his long hair and his eyes rested on the floor. I twirled my hair around my finger and studied their faces. Nothing had changed, except maybe relief for the fact that the story was over.

"Yeah. It's like some freaky suspense movie. When I watch those now, I totally feel for the heroin." I joked. "I see the freaky dude walk in and I'm like, I know that guy. Oh yeah, he was in my room two weeks ago." I laughed half heartedly and the boys relaxed.

"I like hearing you sound normal again." Caleb smiled approvingly. "It sounds good." I smiled happily and shifted out of Tyler's arms. They weren't the arms I was searching for. I wasn't sure if he had changed his views, but I hoped he had. Yet, there he was, sulking against the wall, following my every step with his alert eyes.

I stood directly in front of him, boldly. A few days ago I would have gawked at the idea of doing this. "You understand now, don't you? I didn't want to leave. But, it was necessary. I didn't want you guys to get hurt... And... I meant what I said at the pier. 'More than anything.'" I quoted myself and stared expectantly. He just studied my face. "Reid, I'm serious. You have to believe me. I-"

"Brooke?" I raised my eye brows. "Shut up." He grabbed my hand and pulled me into a kiss. A welcome home kiss.

Exactly what I had been dreaming of for the past two years.


End file.
